


Bianca Nevada, International Woman of Mystery

by Flexor



Series: Remnant: To hell in a handbasket. [3]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Blake being severely messed up in the head, Energizer Bunny, Freezerburn - Freeform, Spoilers, Sunflowyr, Weiss being awesome, eclipse - Freeform, horrible jokes, post-S3, screw canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-12
Updated: 2016-03-12
Packaged: 2018-05-26 08:06:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6230671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flexor/pseuds/Flexor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In "The Recovery Of Yang Xiao Long", we read how Yang got a brand new spanking arm. At that point, I thought I'd let the RWBY fandom rest a little, because I suck mightily at predicting what RT will do, and I'm more comfortable just filling in the little holes in the story. But then, I missed writing these girls, and thought "Screw Canon".  So have another 19K words of basically me gushing over Weiss.</p><p>Weiss, having just organised to have our Blonde Bombshell re-armed, now has to flee from the clutches of her father's agents while searching for the missing Blake Belladonna. To this end, she dons the dark cloak of Bianca Nevada.</p><p>The ship tags are there only to indicate who is seeing who. There is hardly any sex in here (HEY YOU! COME BACK HERE!), but there is lots of violence.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Weiss Spy With My Little Eye

Weiss Schnee, huntress-in-training, currently without an academy to call her own, hunched over the terminal in the library of Signal Academy, and did what she shouldn't be able to do. She was checking messages left for her by someone in Mistral. There was a back channel that the Atlas radio engineers had set up so they could talk when the main transceiver was off-line. Maybe they had simply forgotten to take it down when the CCTS went up, maybe it was their way to say "sod you" to the idiots who'd thought it was a good idea to cripple the entire network when one of the main nodes went down. It was slow. It didn't carry pictures. And access here in Patch was, well, patchy. Whether the Patch relay station could talk to the Atlas tower or not depended mostly on the weather. Weiss was on a message board called "Danger Shades" that some complete techno-anarchistic nerd had set up at Shade Academy. The place crawled with Anarchists, militant Faunists, White Fang sympathisers, Druidic cults, Doomsday cults, even the odd technician. Usually, when words dribbled onto your screen slowly enough to keep up with reading it, it was done for effect. This poor thing simply didn't go any faster. It made her feel strangely elite and hackerish.

Weiss heard someone walk up to her, and she hid the message board under some other windows. It turned out to be Taiyang, Yang's father. He held out a Signal Academy badge for her, dangling on its blue cord.

"Thanks Taiyang," said Weiss. She looked at her badge. It had a picture of her, with her hair in plaits, wearing a loose fitting checkered shirt of Yang's. She had changed her hairstyle and most of her clothes because her father's agents would still be after her to take her home and clap her in irons at Castle Schnee. The name on the badge was _Bianca Nevada_. Wearing it, she could move like a shadow among the students at Signal.

"Any news?"

Weiss shook her head. Her friends Jaune Arc, Yang's little sister Ruby Rose, Yang's boyfriend Lie Ren, and Ren's life-long friend Nora Valkyrie had upped sticks and walked off down the road. Ruby's note had said they were going to Haven. Yang had just taken the bird to Ambrosia to have a new arm fitted. One of the nurses in the clinic there was also on the board. Given that anyone could read any message on Danger Shades, Weiss had to be very careful with her words. It was quite possible that her loving family was reading along. So Weiss mainly read all the messages she could, looking for reports of scythe-wielding maniacs and dead members of the White Fang littering the place. So far, none.

"I've been meaning to ask you. How much did you spend on this arm?"

Weiss squinted at a message that seemed to mention a pink girl with a hammer, but the language was so weird that it could have been anything.

"Two million," said Weiss.

"Two _million_ lien?"

"That's correct. That's just the arm, though. The treatment and care are another million."

Taiyang sat down on next to Weiss.

"Weiss, I'll never be able to..."

Weiss turned her head around. "Don't. Don't even _think_ of paying me back. I am sitting on an administrative error of another seventeen million lien. That won't even show up in any report, because Schnee Dust Company doesn't see fit to put certain kinds of transaction in writing. My father could buy the whole of Patch and everything on it out of the contingency fund." She looked back at the terminal. "Maybe at the end of this adventure, lien won't be worth the plastic they're printed on."

"But so much money..."

"Strictly speaking, it isn't even my money. It was supposed to go to some unscrupulous arms dealer, but he ran into some trouble and didn't need it where he was going. I persuaded the carrier to give it to me instead of putting it back on the pile."

"So you gave it to another arms dealer," said Taiyang.

"Heh. More accurate than you know. It _is_ a Martial Arts model, and it is classed as a weapon in certain jurisdictions." She glanced at Taiyang. "Seriously. It is all good. What kind of friend would I be if I had all this money and then _didn't_ use it to help Yang?"

"You can't tell me that your family would approve of you just grabbing twenty million lien. You put yourself at risk, to help Yang." Taiyang put his big strong hand on Weiss' slender shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

"Thank you, Weiss. Thank you from the bottom of my heart."

"You're welcome."

Taiyang got up. "Don't be late for dinner. I'm going hunting." 

* * *

 

The connection dropped, and after a few tries, Weiss gave up and turned off the terminal. She looked at the clock. Her eyes grew large, and she grabbed her things and sprinted out of the library, out the gates and onto the path to Taiyang's cottage. The front door was not locked, and she ran in. The place smelled of cooking. Weiss' family was beyond filthy rich. She hadn't gone hungry a day in her life, and food was prepared for her by highly skilled chefs. Even at Beacon, food arrived in the form of ladles full. Until she'd arrived at Taiyang's place, she'd never seen a potato turn from a root vegetable into mash on her plate from start to finish. Taiyang had spared her the same process for the sausages. They just grew naturally in the larder. She had followed him into the garden, watched him pull a _plant_ out of the ground, cut it to pieces, and boil it. She'd eaten it, and it was unlike anything she'd ever had.

Weiss put her boots on the side, and walked into the kitchen on her socks. Taiyang smiled at her.

"You're just in time. Set the table, will you? Three bowls."

"Three?"

"We have a guest." 

 

Weiss walked into the living room. Sitting at the table was a mostly dark-haired man who was pouring himself a drink from a bottle, and not the first one from the looks of it. His eyes traced a meandering path round her, and finally settled on her with a winning smile.

"Hello Ice Princess."

"You."

Qrow raised his glass at her, tossed it back in one gulp and put it on the table. His grin was revolting. "You know what I really like about you Schnee girls? It's the way the sun breaks through in your eyes every time you see me. That makes the trip all the way over from Mistral all the more worth it."

"You're _drunk_."

"I am?" Qrow picked up the bottle and looked at the label. "Damn you Tai. You said this was water. You _lied_ to me!"

"Oh ha ha. What are you doing here?"

Qrow raised a finger, then pointed it at her. "You remind me of your sister. I was _planning_ to check up on my niece. But she's vanished. Flown off to Atlas, to get fixed. So now all I can do is give Tai some news of his other daughter. And help him with his brandy."

"You've seen Ruby?"

"Yes I have. They actually made it to Mistral. Took some friends along. She was always the smart one."

Weiss stood up, looking down on Qrow. "And who am I, then?"

"You're the one who forgot what she came in here for."

Weiss sneered, and walked over to the cupboard for bowls and spoons.

"So is Ruby okay? And the rest?"

"They're fine. Ruby's holding up like a champ. She's not getting it all her own way, but she's good. So are her friends. Even that sorry bunch of noodles that used to be Pyrrha's team leader."

"Jaune."

"Yeah. Looks all damp and useless, but there's something more about him now. Good for him. Didn't he use to have the hots for you?"

Weiss put the spoons down and went into a cupboard for some bread. "Who doesn't? But I can't compare to Pyrrha. I never got a chance to talk to him before Father swept me up and took me home."

Qrow leaned back in his chair and looked at Weiss. "And then you swiped a fortune in lien from the petty cash, gave the whole of SDC the slip, and got my niece some of the best hardware money can buy. You did good, girl. Winter should be proud of you."

"She'd better be," said Weiss, oddly pleased.

Taiyang walked in with a large pot of stew.

"Eat up folks. Long day tomorrow." 

 

"Where are you headed next?"

Weiss, Taiyang and Qrow were sitting by the fire, drinks in their hands. Taiyang was half way down a mug of ale. Weiss had been tempted into a small plum brandy to help her sleep, and it looked like it was going to work. Qrow, who could drink a whole bottle of brandy and not fall asleep, looked at his empty glass.

"First, I'm heading back to the smoking crater that is Beacon. I've found out something that could help us tell if that bitch Cinder is properly dead. The way Ruby got rid of her didn't exactly leave a nice corpse. I don't want her popping up when we don't expect it. Then, follow up on a few hints and hunches on where Ozpin went." Qrow's eyes wandered to the cane leaning against the armrest of his chair. "I've got something that belongs to him."

"Professor Ozpin is _alive_?"

"From the way our enemies are searching high and low for him, I'd say yes. But what do they know? He's a crafty old bastard. Ten lien says he's hiding up somewhere, nursing himself back to health."

"Just ten?" Weiss smiled, finished her drink. It was nice, and she was feeling wonderfully rosy.

"We're not all made of money, Ice Princess."

"Ice _Queen_ ," said Weiss. Her eyes closed. She vaguely noticed strong arms picking her up, carrying her to her bed and putting a blanket over her.

"Good night, Weiss." 


	2. The Rocky Road To Dinorwig

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss and Taiyang make their way to the small Vale town of Dinorwig. Yang gets there by way of the ruins of Beacon.

The next morning, Qrow was gone. Taiyang explained that he'd had some sort of message that had scuppered all his plans, and he had to fly _now_. Also, Ruby and her gang had run into some kind of trouble, and would probably like a couple of friends to come and kick the butts of whatever was, well, troubling them. Weiss quickly dressed.

"I need to get to a terminal." 

 

The Gods of Telecommunication smiled upon Weiss' very thin lifeline to the world, and she could send off a message to Nurse Grey at the Ambrosia clinic. She strapped her pack on her back, put on her weapons belt, and turned to Taiyang.

"I'm heading for a place called Dinorwig. Do you know how I can get there quickly?"

"I'm coming with you," said Taiyang. "There's a ferry. It'll take us a day to walk to the ferry, the journey on the ferry is two days, and that'll put us within sight of the Electric Mountain."

Weiss gave Taiyang a long look.

"What?" said Taiyang. "Do you think I'm going to sit here with both my girls out and about fighting the fight against evil? Time's a-wasting, Miss _Nevada_."

Weiss looked at the small knife at Taiyang's belt, the walking stick in his hand.

"Don't you have a weapon?"

"Horrible things," said Taiyang. "Only gets people hurt. Off we go. You're a singer, aren't you? Know any marching songs?"

"Not... specifically," said Weiss.

"Well then," said Taiyang. "One-two-three-four-five." 

 

>   
> Hunt the hare and turn her down the rocky road  
> and all the way to Dinorwig whack fol-la-de-da.  
> 

 

It took Weiss a few moments to get used to the unfamiliar time signature, and the words came so fast that she could hardly catch them, let alone join in. It gave her something to do, and Taiyang had a surprisingly pleasant baritone voice. In a brisk tempo, they walked down the rocky road to the ferry. 

* * *

 

Yang, recently discharged from the hospital, once more with ten fingers to call her own, pulled out her wallet and counted her travelling money. It came down to "lots", because Weiss had been a generous girl. The hospital car had put her at the airport, and Yang had bought tickets for Vale, Mistral, and Atlas Central. She fumbled, dropped her wallet, and as she bent down to pick it up, she saw a woman looking at her from behind a newspaper. Yang rose up again, and made her way to the platform for Atlas. She sat down on a bench, and as departure time approached, she made her way to the ladies' restroom, where she gathered up her hair in a ponytail, and put on a hooded jumper that hid most of her hair and face. The final boarding call went out, and she ducked into the crowd. At the last moment, she crouched behind a few potted plants, then rushed out and was just in time to board the aircraft to Vale. She carefully checked the other passengers, and sat back congratulating herself on her own cleverness. 

 

The kingdom of Vale looked almost distressingly normal. Shops were still open. People still went about their business. The only difference was to the Tower of Beacon. The top had been cut off, and a massive frozen dragon Grimm clung to it. Yang stood for a moment, looking at it. She had seen this beast circling the tower. Her little sister, her little _sister_ had frozen it in place with a single blast from... what? Yang turned her eyes away. Ruby had seen Pyrrha die. Yang had seen Blake...

Metal is lousy for wiping away tears.

She hefted her bag on her shoulder, and set out towards the Academy. She wasn't even sure what she was going to find once she got there, but there was a chance that she would find something that would make her trip to Dinorwig a lot easier.

The walk from the docks at Vale to the Academy was eerily familiar. The trees were bare. Yang couldn't see any Grimm, but she knew there were many, attracted by the dragon. Yang broke into a little trot, annoyed with herself that she found it much harder going than before. My my. Sitting in bed for a few months does nothing for your fitness. Who'd-a-thunk it? Yang stuck her chin forward and ran on.

She arrived at the main building, and had to take a breath. Every window was broken. In the distance, she could hear the growl of every kind of Grimm, from the small Creeps to the massive elephantine Goliaths. Yang forced herself to stay calm with breathing exercises, knowing that emotions of fear would draw the dark creatures. With small sprints, she drew closer to her dorm. She ran through the hallway, and arrived at her dorm door. It was still locked. Her scroll was new and wouldn't open it. Oh well. She had something with her that would.

Yang made the finger gesture that took the limits off her cyber-arm's strength. She felt the little buzz that warned her not to touch anything delicate right now. Blue veins of light ran over her forearm. Yang pulled back her fist and let it shoot forward.

She punched straight through the door, taking out the lock. She put her arm back on the "soft touch" setting, pushed the door open.

Their dorm looked just like the day they had left, except for an oily black soot that had settled over everything. Yang walked over to Blake's bed underneath her own, and sat down on it. Her eyes moved from place to place. Her Achieve Men concert poster. Weiss' painting of Forever Fall. Some of Ruby's clothes left on the bed. It had no business looking so _normal_. This had all been a dream. Yang was just the first to get back from class. Maybe they'd ask Pyrrha over for a game of Remnant if Blake couldn't be tempted out of her books. Yang closed her eyes a moment.

"Blake... Where are you?"

Yang sighed, and took the keys to her motorcycle out of a drawer. She quickly looked round to see if there was anything Weiss could want. Under Weiss' bed were a few vials of Dust, which she dropped into her bag. Time to go. She walked out of the door and closed it behind her, never to return. She turned round to leave. 

 

"Don't move!"

Yang looked over her shoulder. A man was standing in the gloom, a long sword out. He wasn't White Fang. He was wearing a white shirt over brown trousers. Probably Schnee Dust Company. Yang scowled. So there were more than one of them after her. Could have figured that out earlier, you stupid bimbo.

"I said, don't move."

"Or else what?" Yang clicked out her weapons, facing the sword fighter.

"You know where Miss Weiss Schnee is. You're going to show us so we can take her home, and _maybe_ we'll let you keep that pretty piece of metal."

"And if I don't?"

"Did you learn _anything_ from your last fight?"

"Oh yes. Wanna know what it is?" Yang's eyes narrowed.

"Fine. Let's do this the hard way then." The man raised his sword. "This is going to hurt you more th-"

Yang raised her hands, and opened fire. She saw the man's aura take the hits, and he looked away for a splinter of a moment. Yang shot forward as the man's sword came down. There was a snap, and Yang was holding the sharp blade in her fist. The man tried to pull it free, but couldn't.

"Well well. It works," said Yang.

Her left arm came round and hit the man with a Dust-assisted uppercut to the jaw. She saw the shimmer of his aura as it failed. She hit him in the head again, and he fell to the ground like a wet towel.

Yang stood still a moment, just breathing. She should kill him. He'd just keep following her if she didn't. It was the sensible thing to do. He'd threatened to take her arm off again, hoping it would make her crumple up into a heap. Her metal fist tightened on the blade, till it hummed with power. With a sudden blur of speed, Yang slammed the sword against the wall. It shattered into shards. Thinking of killing, thinking of revenge. That's what brings the Grimm. Instead, Yang slowly grinned. She'd _won_! She'd won her first fight since she'd lost her arm.

"The bimbo is _back_!"

She turned round. This man had said "we". Might be more around. She picked up her bag, forced the door to JNPR's dorm, and climbed out of the window. She ran for the garage as fast as she could. She opened the door, put on her helmet. Almost as an afterthought, she grabbed another helmet for Weiss. The same one Ren had worn. She patted the saddle of her bright yellow motorbike called Bumblebee.

"Hello baby. Mummy's back. Miss me?"

Bumblebee's engine sprang to life with a familiar growl. Yang revved her up, and shot out of the garage, heading out onto the road to Dinorwig. 

* * *

 

The ferry was maybe three hours' march away, when Weiss and Taiyang ran into trouble. A couple of young men and a deceptively sweet looking girl with a nasty looking polearm stepped in front of them. As they looked back, they saw another three people standing behind them. They were all wearing the same green cloaks, and wielding a variety of weapons. Weiss' hand strayed to the hilt of her rapier, but Taiyang shook his head at her.

"Hey Grandpa! Out for a walk?"

Taiyang folded his hands, and smiled and nodded at the leader.

"Indeed I am, young Sir. Despite the troubles, the Sun still shines, and the ill tide affects the grass and the trees not at all."

Weiss frowned. Was he going to try and talk his way out of this? It didn't look like that was going to work. It would have been nice if Taiyang had been a little less trusting and had brought, oh, a nice big scythe. To name just a thing.

"Did you think you could just walk over our roads without paying toll?"

"You are the King's Wardens? You must be highly talented for the King to employ you at such a young age."

"To you, everybody is young, Grandpa. Now let's see the colour of your money."

"Very well. How much will it be?"

The leader rolled his eyes, looking at his friends for support. "All of it. Stop being stupid."

"But how will we afford the ferry when we give you all of our money? Surely, you see the reason in this?"

"You should have thought of that before you walked roads that belong to the Green Cloak." The dread leader grinned an evil grin. "But I'll tell you what. If your daughter shows us her tits, we'll let you go."

"She is not my daughter, but I will put your proposal to her, as she does not speak your language."

Taiyang turned to Weiss, looking over her shoulder at the rest of the band.

"Watch my back. Try to stay out of it. This'll only take a few moments."

"What?!"

"Good girl."

Taiyang turned back to the leader of the Green Cloak. "Regrettably..."

Weiss could never remember quite what went on in the next thirty seconds. Taiyang punched the leader in the stomach, stepped round him, kicked the legs from under the girl with the pole arm, meeting her head with his other foot as she went down. He chopped her friend next to her in the throat, then whirled round to the three boys behind him. Positioning himself just so that one was always between himself and the rest, he placed his boot in one of their faces, shoved him aside, and punched out the other two before they could even raise their hands. The leader was still standing up, clutching his stomach. Taiyang put his hand in his face and pushed him over.

Weiss had drawn her weapon, and stood with it out, staring at Taiyang. He tapped the point of her rapier with his finger.

"Are you going to use that?"

Weiss looked a bit sheepish, and put away her weapon. She looked at Taiyang with new eyes. Taiyang laughed as they started moving again.

"You know, I _am_ a martial arts trainer at an accredited academy, you know? The day I can't win over a bunch of amateurs..." He sneered. " _Grandpa_ though? I need another tattoo." 

* * *

 

Weiss looked at the ferry. It was... small. It also _floated_. Weiss had been expecting a normal ferry. An _air_ ferry. Who used boats these days? Next to her, Taiyang stood with upturned face, taking deep breaths of sea air.

"I used to be a sailor, you know? Before Team STRQ. Before _everything_ , really. Before Yang, and Raven, and Summer, and Ruby. Some of the best years of my life."

"Didn't you get seasick?"

"Depends on the ship," said Taiyang. "But on a clear day like this, I don't think so."

"Are there any Sea Grimm?"

"Nope. Just giant squid, flying sharks, the occasional mermaid, and of course I hope we won't run into a Leviathan. That could swallow the ship whole. In fact, we once sailed our vessel straight into a Leviathan's maw. Made excellent time to Vacuo, and then we made the beast vomit us back up with Davey Jones' Insanity Sauce. The hottest sauce in the known universe. It didn't like that, oh no it didn't!"

Weiss chuckled. "I believe you, Captain Xiao Long. Thousands wouldn't."

"Oh, I was only the ship's cook. Sailing under Captain Jack Harrow. Oh, the lies I could tell you. Let's get on board." 

 

"Get yourself onto the deck, look at the horizon, take deep breaths."

Weiss was looking slightly _Grün_. She had pledged her lunch to Neptune Vasilias' divine namesake. Neptune had not made the sea smooth as a sheet in exchange. Men named Neptune are traitors. Weiss fixed her eyes on the horizon, which was dancing up and down before her eyes. She remembered Ruby telling her about Jaune on the trip over to Beacon. Jaune had thrown up all over Ruby's shoes... Weiss clapped her hand in front of her mouth and ran for the railing. She just heard Taiyang shout after her.

" _Lee_ side! Offwind side!"

The boat took two bouncing, sickening, exhausting days to get to the mainland of Vale. Weiss spent most of that time in her bunk with a bucket nearby, thinking she was going to die. It just never let up. The movement of the boat was continuous, but never settled into a rhythm that she could get used to. Finally, she fell asleep, dreaming of being shaken. Every time she woke up, Taiyang was sitting next to her with a water bottle.

"Drink, my girl. Keep drinking or you'll get headaches."

Weiss would drink, and then have to leap for the bucket again, and Taiyang would give her more water and pull the blanket over her. Finally, she woke up with Taiyang gently shaking her shoulder.

"We're here."

Weiss was so far beyond shame now that she didn't mind Taiyang holding her arm as she walked over the pier to the blessed mainland. The pier seemed to move under her feet. Taiyang gently led her towards a bench and made her sit down. He held a silver hip flask out to her, and Weiss drank. It burnt her throat, and it tasted like plane fuel, but it helped. She closed her eyes a moment, waiting for the rocking motion to go away.

"Deep breaths, girl," said Taiyang. "Let's get going. You'll feel better when you keep moving."

The walk through the crisp winter air did Weiss an enormous amount of good, and after a few hours, the Electric Mountain of Dinorwig came into view. They found the only motel in Dinorwig, and not quite knowing what else to do, they got a room.

"And now," said Weiss, "We wait." 

* * *

 

It felt good to be out on the road again. Yang's motorcycle ate up the miles. The last time she had gone down this road, Lie Ren had been driving, and she had demonstrated the principles of resonance to him. Yang was in no mood to find the exact speed that made the saddle vibrate. She was going faster than that. Bumblebee screamed at the top of her voice. Yang didn't need to look at the meter to know how fast she was going. Guilt rushed through her. She should have gone out much sooner. Ruby's last words to her kept coming back, and her own silence echoed like a void in her mind. _I love you too, Ruby_. She was going to tell her little sister that, even if she had to do it with her last breath. It was getting dark, and Yang turned on the headlamp. Her long blonde hair streamed behind her like a flag as she bent down a bit lower.

The first few hundred miles, she had been worried that someone might be following her, but that had faded away. The only thing faster than her was an aircraft. They didn't know where she was going. Nobody knew about her wonderful, filthy, exhausting but satisfying afternoon with Ren in the little motel in Dinorwig. Nobody except Nora, Ruby, Weiss, and Blake.

Yang felt the pang of loss thinking about Blake. The pain of not knowing where her best friend in this world was. Of not knowing exactly why she had just disappeared. Yang knew Blake as well as anyone else, but even she couldn't tell. She could have gone on a killing spree among the White Fang. She must hate them now with more passion than even Weiss ever had. Maybe she was hunting for Adam Taurus, their leader. But that was suicide! It had taken him no trouble at all to defeat Yang even at her strongest. Blake had saved her, carried her off to safety. What was left of her.

Yang hadn't been able to talk to Ren before Father took her and Ruby home to Patch. To her shame, she hadn't even tried. He had come to her home with Nora and Jaune. She should have gone with them. But she had been... ugly. Mutilated. Incomplete. Destroyed. Defeated. Yang glanced at her metal arm. It didn't feel the cold. It would never feel the touch of someone's skin. It was not an instrument of love. It was a weapon. Yang was grateful for it, for the gentle care of the people at the hospital, for Weiss' generosity in paying more money to repair her than she would ever make in her whole life. She could use it to defend her friends. She could still touch them with her other hand. It wasn't perfect, but it would have to be enough. 

 

Yang had been down this road many times. Dinorwig was where she had Bumblebee serviced. The only place for miles around that could. She knew every bridge, every bend in the road, every roadside cafe. But she wasn't stopping now. Not until she found the motel. In the light of a crumbling moon, she saw the place, its "No Vacancy" sign with one of the letters missing, blinking at her. She asked the old man if there was anyone staying by the name of Schnee, but there wasn't. She gave him a description of Weiss, but the old man just shook his head. Given what went on in these cabins, that wasn't unexpected. Yang sighed. There weren't any free cabins, so she walked back to her motorcycle. Her eyes narrowed. A man was standing next to it, looking at it. As the moon looked out from behind a cloud, she saw his blonde short curly hair. He looked round and grinned as he saw her.

"I knew it was you. I'd recognise that engine anywhere." He walked towards her. " _And_ the maniac who rides it like that."

"Dad..."

He held out his arms and Yang ran towards him, wrapped her arms round him, old and new. It didn't feel the same. But it felt good. 


	3. Into The Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang, Weiss, and Taiyang return to Vale to look for Blake, when they find Team CFVY in the middle of a mission of peace. They learn the whereabouts of the White Fang and set out to thwart their evil wiles and save them from the wrath of Blake Belladonna.

Weiss' eyes shone as she saw Yang walk into the room and wave at her with her new arm. She walked over and hugged her. Yang's hard metal hand moved down to her bottom and...

Weiss blinked, and looked up into the most filthy grin she'd ever seen on Yang's face.

"Have I just spent two million lien on a _vibrator_?"

"A-yep!"

Weiss gave Yang a _look_.

"Works great," said Yang.

"Well, I'm happy if you're happy."

Yang held Weiss' shoulders and looked into her eyes. "I am. Thank you. You get hugs on demand for the rest of your life."

Weiss pulled Yang close and put her head on her shoulder. "You're welcome."

Yang ran one of Weiss' plaits through her metal fingers. "Looks cute on you."

"It's a disguise. I am Bianca Nevada, International Woman of Mystery."

"I wouldn't have known it was you." Yang walked round. "You know, I think this is the same room where Ren and I, uhh, stayed."

"How interesting," said Weiss.

Yang pointed up. "We may have made that stain on the ceiling. I don't know how I feel about my dad staying here with my cute friend."

Taiyang only gave Yang a fatherly look and shook his head. Don't bite, Miss Nevada. Yang sneaked up on Weiss and whispered in her ear.

"You didn't ravish my dad, did you? You super spies always ravish people."

Weiss smiled at Yang over her shoulder. "I am a grown woman, and a daring adventurer. Who says I can't ravish the occasional..." She waved a hand in Taiyang's direction.

Yang's eyes opened wide. "Am I getting another little _sister_? Oh my! We'll call her Snowdrop and she'll be as pretty as you are and as good at fist-fighting as my dad! Oh _Bianca_ I'm so happy for you!" Yang pushed Weiss into a chair. "Sit down. A woman in your position should take it easy."

Weiss laughed up at Yang. "I do know about those rubber things, you know?"

Yang looked sad and wiped away a single tear. "I'm so sorry, little Snowdrop. You never had a chance."

Weiss got up out of the chair and walked over to pick up her bag.

"We can't stay here too long. There's probably people who know where you took Ren. My daddy has very good detectives working for him. Were you followed?"

"There was one woman at Ambrosia Airport, and one guy at Beacon if you believe it. I knocked him out. But who would know where I take my boyfriends?"

"Pretty much everyone who heard you and Nora 'discuss' the matter."

"Oh..."

Yang and Nora had had a bit of a discussion on the subject of Ren as a love interest, using Nora's hammer and Yang's fists, ending with the both of them in the fountain. It had all sorted itself out in the end, but it hadn't exactly been quiet.

"And do you think boys don't talk?"

"Umm. Ren is kinda quiet."

"Well, I heard it from Neptune."

Taiyang put his pack on. "Let's go girls." 

 

Yang put her motorcycle in storage with Lily the mechanic. Lily took one look at Yang's arm and swooned on the spot.

"Oh girl! You look _shiny_! Give me a few hours with a diamond drill, and I'll put a design on it that'll blow your mind!"

Yang hadn't thought of her new arm as a thing of beauty. There was an elegance to it, combined with its business-like menace, that she had loved even before Dr. Ochre had put it on her. But now that Lily mentioned it, she liked the idea of something tastefully warlike engraved on it, like her dad's dragon tattoo or her own burning heart sigil.

"Don't have the time now, but I'll remember that. I may be back."

"I'll show you my portfolio. You're going to look _fierce_!"

Taiyang walked in with Weiss, and kissed Lily on both cheeks.

"Hey gorgeous," said Lily. "Good to see you."

Taiyang looked at Weiss. "See? Gorgeous, _not_ Grandpa."

"Not until I get pregnant," said Yang. "Ain't gonna happen."

"Where are we going next?" said Taiyang. "We need to start looking for..."

"Blake," said Yang. "We need all the firepower we can get."

"I think she's in the nasty bits of Vale," said Weiss. "It's a bit risky for me. Place is crawling with Daddy's henchmen."

"We could paint your hair black," said Yang. "Black hair would look good on you."

" _Short_ hair would look good on you," said Weiss, irritably. "I'll manage. Just be ready to fend off kidnappers."

"How do we get there?" said Taiyang.

"Got Shopkeep's pickup truck in for servicing," said Lily. "Maybe he can give you a lift." 

 

Yang and Weiss sat next to each other in the back of Shopkeep's truck, under a sheet of canvas against the cold. Taiyang was in the cab with Shopkeep, because age brings privilege. Yang's hair blew in front of her face in the wind of their speed. She had her arms round her knees, and hadn't said a word since they'd left. Weiss reached out and touched her shoulder.

"We'll find her."

"If she's still alive."

"This is _Blake_ we're talking about. She'll be out there. She's a survivor. You know her."

"Do I?"

"Yes you do! She's your partner. I've seen you work together like your brains are connected. Wish I could do that with your stupid little sister."

"Then why don't I know why she ran away?"

"You do know. It's to protect you. You weren't combat ready. She's drawing fire away from you. She didn't abandon you, she's looking for blood to avenge you." Weiss looked away. "And she'll get it, too. Blake is frightening when she's angry. Her anger burns _cold_."

Yang sighed. "I thought she was running away from me, because I'd be angry with her because of... this. I don't believe that anymore. But it would have been nice to have her near while I was healing. I think you're right. She's going to do her best to kill that White Fang leader. Hey. After the tournament, she said she saw someone slowly turn from good to bad. Think this was him?"

"Could be. He got to her by hurting you."

Yang looked at her new hand, opening and closing her fist. Would it be strong enough to catch that red blade? Best not to try. She looked over her shoulder in the direction of Beacon. She found to her surprise that she didn't even care whether that White Fang leader lived or died. She just wanted her friend back.

"Blake's going to turn him to _mincemeat_ first chance she gets." Yang glanced at Weiss. "I just hope that what she wants is to stand over his corpse. Not give her own life to kill him."

"I really wouldn't want to be in the White Fang right now."

"You mean you have a _tail_ under that combat skirt?"

Weiss smiled. Yang was joking again. Good. She put her hand on the hilt of her sword and her face hardened.

"The White Fang cost several of my family their lives. They brought _Grimm_ into my home. They hurt you. They hurt Blake. They work for the people who cost you your reputation, and cost Pyrrha and Penny their lives, and goodness knows how many others. I'm not going to play nice with them, Yang. If it's White Fang, it's dead." Weiss reached out and pushed Yang's hair out of her face. "And Blake hates them more now than I do. You would run at them and start hitting them until you or they were dead. Blake isn't like that. She will hit them, and then vanish before they can hit back. She'll want them all dead, especially that leader. And she'll figure out the way to do it, and rain terror on them. That's why I know she's still out there. We're going to find her, Yang. And then we'll find Ruby and the others."

"She'll forget to eat," said Yang. "She won't rest. I'm not afraid of what the White Fang will do. I'm afraid for _her_."

Weiss moved closer. Put her hand on Yang's thigh, her head on her shoulder.

"We'll find her." 

* * *

 

They waved goodbye to Shopkeep on the edge of town. Weiss pulled up the hood of her black cloak, hiding her hair. Yang looked round as if she was expecting a sign saying "White Fang Hideout".

"We must put our ears to the ground," said Taiyang. "Let's find a tavern, where weary travellers meet, and many a strange tale can be heard."

"It's traditional," said Weiss.

"Only dorks play Castles and Creatures," said Yang, setting off for their usual off-campus watering hole.

"Says the reigning Remnant: the Game champion," said Weiss.

"Not me. That's Pyrrha. How that girl always had just the right cards..."

"Destiny," said Weiss, and they all fell silent as they walked to the inn.

They pushed open the door to the Hunter's Arms. They found a table easily. There weren't many people about. Yang walked to the bar to get drinks. Weiss saw a few students, but nobody she knew. Yang came back with three large coffees on a tray.

"They call this place the Hunter's Arms and they wouldn't even give me a discount! Bloody cheapskates!" She picked up a half-size sheet of paper from the tray and put it in front of Weiss. "Is this anyone we know?"

Weiss looked. It was a pamphlet for a lecture in a nearby function hall. It had a picture of a Rabbit Faunus girl, smiling and waving. Weiss read: 

 

>   
> THE WHITE FANG EXPLAINED  
> Why We Also Think They Are A Bunch Of Tossers.  
> Speaking: Velvet Scarlatina. Coco Adel. Fox Alistair.  
> 

 

"I think we just found where to go this evening," said Weiss. 

* * *

 

The function hall was about half full. Most of the people there were Human, but here and there cat ears, horns, or tails could be seen. The Faunus sat off to the side, huddling together for comfort, being stared at by the Humans. Quiet music was playing over the speakers. People were talking. There was a raised area with a projector. It was showing the same picture that had been on the pamphlet. The lights dimmed and Velvet Scarlatina walked up. She looked different. Yang and Weiss only knew her wearing trousers, light armour. Today, she was wearing a white dress with bare arms up to her shoulders and, shockingly, a rather low cut to the chest. Her rabbit ears stood up high and proud. Weiss had to convince herself that this was really the Velvet she knew. Back at Beacon, Velvet had been not even a wall flower. She'd been a _potato_ , always underground. To see her here, speaking in public, about a sensitive subject like the White Fang and Human-Faunus relations, was incredible.

"Good evening," said Velvet. "We were almost there. We were almost to the point where Humans just thought that cat ears were cute, that monkeys' tails were very practical, that horns were pretty and elegant, and of course _everybody_ knows what they say about Rabbit Faunus."

There were some scattered laughs. "And for our part, we Faunals were taught that Humans were cruel, and wanted to kill us all and drive whoever wasn't dead into a horrible place called Menagerie. And then we went to move among you, and found that almost _everyone_ we met was as horrified about that as we were. We found that you were friends, who would be happy to share their cities, their schools, their homes, their _families_ with us. We almost made it, people." The smile disappeared from Velvet's face in a splintered moment. "And then the White Fang came, and ruined it all. Everybody in the White Fang is Faunal, and they did horrible things. But not all Faunus are in the White Fang. And not even all people in the White Fang wanted this. I am here to tell you, and to show you, that we, the Faunus, are still your friends."

"Like hell we are!"

Velvet looked in the direction of the voice. A young man among the Faunus had stood up. A large hood hid his face.

"If you think that all the Humans just want to have a cuddle with us, think again. The Humans have no love for us. I should know."

He dropped his hood. On his head, where there should have been thick lion ears, were short stumps, with ragged edges. His eyes burnt with anger.

"I was in a shop in Vale. Minding my own business. Just getting some Dust for the heater. And then the Humans came, and called me a freak. A beast. I tried to leave, but they took me, and beat me, and held me down. And then one of them took a knife and did _this_ to me!" He pointed up at his mutilated ears. "And then they laughed at me, and kicked me, and threw me out of the shop. So forgive me for not taking you at your word. You may just have been lucky. Maybe _your_ Humans liked you as a pet."

"Yatsu?" Velvet looked at the back of the hall. "Some lights?"

Back in the hall, Velvet's team mate Yatsuhashi hit the switch and the lights came on. Velvet walked down to the young man. He was about a head taller than she was. Velvet gently put her hand on his shoulder.

"I am so sorry that happened to you. You are right. Those Humans were monsters. But look." Velvet turned him towards the group of Humans. "Look at them. Look at their faces. Do you see any of them laughing at you?"

As it happened, most of the Humans were looking away. A few were looking at the young Lion Faunus with pity in their eyes.

"I _have_ been lucky," said Velvet. "I have the best friends in the world. Some of them Human. Some of them Faunus. You have not been as lucky as I have, and I wish you had been." Velvet walked back to the stage. "Every conflict, every time. It always starts as Atlas against Vale. Vacuo against Mistral. Humans against Faunus. It's _easy_ to recognise your enemies. They don't talk the way you do. Their skins are a different colour from yours. They have stupid bunny ears. They have no tails. And these fights always start for the same reasons. They continue for the same reasons. They killed one of ours. So we kill one of theirs. And on and on. Until someone says stop. Until _enough_ of them, enough of of _us_ say stop. When that happens, the struggle changes. _This_ struggle. _Our_ struggle has changed. It is not Humans against Faunus anymore. The struggle is now between the people on the one side, those who want to live in peace, raise their children, earn their day's bread, and the people on the other side. The idiots who want to keep fighting, who want more blood. For those of you who do want to keep fighting, where do you finish? Where does it end? With either all the Humans or all the Faunus dead? With exactly as many dead Humans as dead Faunus? That is not a balance. That is a defeat."

Velvet's eyes strayed across the audience.

"It is time to pick sides again. Thank you." 

 

The applause should have been thunderous, but it wasn't. Velvet went, and was replaced by her teammate Coco Adel. She gave the audience a meticulously accurate report of the history of the White Fang. It had started as a political pressure group. While they were not without their success, at some point, a large enough number of people decided it wasn't going fast enough, and there was a change of leadership. The White Fang turned itself into a kind of vigilante organisation, except they were rather more aggressive than vigilantes usually are. Weiss, who knew first-hand what the White Fang was willing to do, and in some cases able, listened with great interest. Coco had done her research. She finished with the remark that support for the White Fang among Faunus was at an all time low, and to treat every Faunus as a possible member would be deeply unfair.

Finally, Fox Alistair came on, and told a stirring tale of the Battle of Beacon. Humans and Faunus alike had resisted as much as they could, standing side by side. Yang shivered as she heard him mention how Blake and she had faced the leader of the White Fang together. How Weiss and Velvet had stood side by side facing the corrupted Atlas synthetics. The solid work done by Sun Wukong, the Monkey Faunus and his Human teammates. He did make it sound more heroic than it probably was, but she couldn't catch him on any outright untruths.

The session came to an end. Pamphlets with information were handed out at the door, but still, Faunus and Humans left separately. Weiss, Yang, and Taiyang walked up to the stage, where Coco, Fox, Velvet, and Yatsuhashi were packing up their things. Velvet looked round, saw them, and threw up her arms.

" _Yang_! You're back! So good to see you!"

Yang threw up her arms as well, and rushed out to Velvet to hug her.

"Oo!" Velvet grabbed Yang's wrist. "You've got some nice metal there. Hang on." She picked up her box from behind the stage and pulled out her camera. "Strike a pose!"

Yang flicked back her hair and threw a punch. Velvet's camera flashed. She showed the picture to Yang.

"Looking good."

"Better than a stump," said Yang. A wicked grin stole onto her face. "Though I can do some things with it you..."

"Don't you _dare_ , Yang Xiao Long!" Weiss stepped up and swatted Yang's arm away from Velvet. "Nora will kill you when she finds out."

"Oh my, _Weiss_!" Velvet beamed at her. "I almost didn't recognise you. Love what you've done with your hair. Looks very, um, classic."

"It's a disguise," said Weiss, flicking a plait over her shoulder. "How have you guys been?"

Coco sneered. "Distributing clue to the clueless. Don't condemn a whole damn _subspecies_ for the actions of a bunch of idiots. People in big groups get really stupid. Like there's only so many brain cells to go round."

"It is a bit of an uphill struggle," said Fox, coiling up the wires to the projector and putting them in bags. "But we're getting better at putting our view across. Make them see things differently. Even if we don't see eye to eye on many things."

"Fox," said Yang, "I really respect the way you make all those blindness jokes. I can count the people who can do that on my fingers, gotta hand it to you."

"High five," said Fox. He raised his hand and missed Yang's by a mile.

"So," said Coco, snapping the last locks shut. "Not that I ain't happy to see you kids, but what brings you here?"

"Blake," said Weiss. "We're looking for her. We think she's gone after the White Fang. Do you have any news of her?"

Velvet looked at the floor. "I last saw her a few weeks back, but she didn't look good."

Yang took a short breath. "What's wrong with her? Is she hurt?"

"She may have gone a bit..." Velvet looked away. "Feral."

"That's _ridiculous_ ," said Weiss. "She's a Faunus, not an animal!"

"No better way to describe it," said Velvet. "I tried to talk to her, but she just ran off, like she was scared of me. The White Fang have gone back to their Mountain Glenn base. Most of the train tunnel is still there, and that's what they used to get out of town after the battle. Blake used it to get into their hideout."

Taiyang took a small step forward. "Is that tunnel still open?"

Velvet looked at Taiyang as if to ask, 'And you are?' Taiyang took her hand between his own and bowed to her.

"I am Yang's father. Please call me Taiyang. And you must be Velvet Scarlatina, the mage of Hard Light. An honour to meet you, as well as a pleasure. Ruby told me many things about you. Her words still fall short of the mark."

"Uh, thank you," said Velvet, blushing slightly.

"Don't go into that tunnel," said Coco. "You'll kill yourself. There's traps, White Fang sentries, and even a wide range of Grimm. Even if you _can_ fight your way through them, you want that element of surprise, don't you? Best to stay above ground. It's only a three-day march."

"Or a two-day run," said Taiyang. "I've done that a few times before. Thank you for the advice."

"In the snow," said Weiss. "Better get some gear before we go."

Velvet put her hand on Weiss' shoulder, the other on Yang's arm. "Get her out of there. With the state her mind is in, she may stop caring whether she survives. But don't hunt her."

"Where Blake goes, I go," said Yang.

"She's running on her feline instincts," said Velvet. "You're Human. You haven't a shadow's chance of catching her if she doesn't want to be caught. She'll see you long before you see her. If you chase after her, she'll see you as the enemy. Let _her_ come to _you_."

"Understood," said Weiss. "We'll bring her back here if we can."

"One more thing." Velvet took Weiss aside and lowered her voice. "If you see Nora before I do... Will you please tell her I love her?"

"Of course," said Weiss.

Velvet closed her eyes. "I would have gone with her, but so many teams have already been broken up. And we have our work here, with our messages of peace. I couldn't just leave."

"I'll tell her. _When_ I see her."

"Thank you," said Velvet. 

* * *

 

Taiyang, Weiss and Yang had said goodbye to their friends, and gone to a camping store for supplies. They stood at the edge of town, looking over the frozen plains.

"Anyone want to stay in town?" said Yang.

They all stepped forward at the same time.

"Didn't think so," said Yang. 


	4. Hot And Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just your ordinary field trip: Weiss almost freezes to death, Yang warms her up again. Weiss explains about her home and Taiyang beats the stuffing out of Yang. Then, they walk into the ruins of Mountain Glennn, and the fun really starts.

Yang turned over in her sleeping bag. Sleeping with her new arm still had its surprises. She'd started awake when her hand touched her face. It had been outside the bag, and it was cold. She'd gritted her teeth and warmed it between her thighs. Another thing she'd noticed was that unlike her left arm, she couldn't tell where it was all the time. She could move it precisely enough, but she had to look at it to know what her fingers were doing. Yang breathed in, sighed. It was still better than sleeping without an arm. Even in all those months, Yang had never got used to waking up, trying to brush back her hair, and finding she had nothing to brush it back with. Towards every morning, she'd grown anxious, almost afraid of waking up. This was better. The arm's internal processors somehow noticed when she was asleep, and when she woke up, it started moving slowly, and only when she was fully awake did it go to its full speed. A lot of thought had gone into this arm, which was why it was so expensive.

They had found a bare patch of ground underneath the branches of an evergreen tree. Taiyang had dug a tunnel on the off-wind side and they had made their camp underneath. Weiss had made coffee on a tiny Dust cooker, and offered to take the first watch.

There were some noises at the entrance to their home, and Weiss came in to wake up Taiyang. A few quiet words were spoken, and Taiyang took up his position outside. Weiss pulled out her high-tech ultra light sleeping bag and stretched out. Yang closed her eyes and tried to get back to sleep. There were noises coming from the other side. Weiss was shivering. Yang raised her head.

"Weiss?"

"Yes?"

"Are you okay?"

"F-fine. Good night."

Yang turned over, closed her eyes. Behind her, the Ice Queen made more cold noises. Yang looked over her shoulder.

" _We-eiss_..."

" _What?!_ "

"Your teeth are chattering and keeping me awake."

"S-sorry."

"Are you _sure_ you're okay?"

"I'm fine," said Weiss, voice dripping with annoyance. "Go to sleep. Your watch is in four hours."

"You got the wrong sleeping bag didn't you?"

"Oh do be quiet. I'm trying to sleep." Weiss turned over and tried not to shiver.

"Weiss?"

"What is it _now_?"

"I'm lovely and warm here. Want to get in with me?"

"I'm _fine_!"

"Get in here you stupid girl. I don't want to thaw you out in the morning."

"Oh all right then."

Weiss crawled over to Yang, who held open her bag. Weiss got in.

"Brrraah!"

Weiss said nothing, only sighed.

"I'm in bed with an icicle!"

"The hint is in the name," said Weiss.

Yang rubbed her left hand over Weiss' arms and legs to warm her up.

"Love is overrated," said Weiss. "Body heat is the thing."

Weiss put her feet up against Yang's legs. Yang' semblance, her fighting spirit, was based on fire. She drew strength from anger, and put out a lot of body heat as a side effect. One of the perks was that she was never cold. _Almost_ never. It took a few minutes for Weiss' arms and legs and feet to warm up.

"I take back all the nasty things I've ever said about you," said Weiss, wriggling her shoulders and her butt up against Yang. "Except when you pinched my ivory comb and broke half the teeth on it. You totally deserved that. But apart from that... You are my best friend ever."

"Your best friend ever can be replaced with a hot water bottle," said Yang. "You need better friends." 

Yang wrapped her arms round Weiss, put her head down and got a face full of Weiss' hair. As they were walking out of town, she had brushed it out and re-done it in her usual ponytail. Bianca Nevada had transformed back into Weiss Schnee. Yang tried to move her head out of the way, but ended up either burrowing under Weiss' hair or lying with her head all the way back.

"Why do you keep your hair off to the side like that?"

"I refuse to conform to people's expectations of symmetry," said Weiss, with the smoothness of a well used phrase.

"Oh you rebel, you. I bet you get right in people's faces."

Weiss chuckled, turned over, and looked into Yang's eyes. She put her hand on Yang's back and gently moved her fingers. Yang put her arm round Weiss' waist. She felt thin, almost fragile.

Yang, and the rest of the team, always thought of Weiss as the one to be protected. Yang took the hits for other team members without even thinking about it. Any hits she took, she converted to energy for hitting back. Weiss was the amplifier. She turned Ruby's bullets into deadly bolts of fire or ice. She stretched time for Blake so she could slice missiles, even bullets, out of the air. Weiss' magical glyphs could make Yang shoot forward at frightening speed or create walls of ice for Yang to bounce off. But Weiss could not take hits like Blake or even Ruby. She could not lift heavy things like Yang could. Still, Weiss was agile. She could do handstands, flips, leaps, with the best of them. There wasn't an ounce of fat on her. And her butt was hard as a rock.

"I can name at least two boys who would give anything to be where I am now," said Yang.

"Hm?"

"Jaune. Neptune."

"Jaune is still in love with Pyrrha," said Weiss. "Nobody else will do."

"Wasn't always like that. He had a bad case of the hots for you. Who knows what'll happen when you meet him again?"

"Nothing, that's what."

Yang grinned. "Are you sure? What if he suddenly remembers his first love, and starts putting the 'Snow angel' moves on you?"

"He'll get the same answer _every_ boy gets," said Weiss. 

 

Yang opened her mouth, frowned, closed it again. Weiss' eyes shone as she saw the gears turning in Yang's brain.

"You like... girls?"

Weiss nodded with a little smile. Yang slowly breathed in. Nothing had changed in the way that Weiss' fingers were stroking her back. But it _felt_ a lot different from what it had been five seconds ago.

"Girls like..." Yang bit her lip. "Like me?"

Weiss' smile grew broader, and she nodded again.

"Oh yes."

"You never said! All that time, you never said."

Weiss shrugged. "You like boys. You like boys a _lot_."

"I've done it with girls before."

"Experimenting? To see if you like it?" Weiss' voice was more quiet and more... kind than Yang had ever heard it.

"Uh. I suppose."

"And?"

"Well, it was okay, I guess. Kinda fun. I hope I gave her back as good as I got." Yang moved her hand up Weiss' back.

"Hey! I liked your hand where it was!"

"Fair enough," said Yang, and moved her hand back where it came from. "You paid for that hand. If you want it on your butt, on your butt you'll get it."

Weiss snorted. "Don't even joke about that. I didn't get you into that hospital for _favours_! You're _not_ one of my one-use-only girlfriends."

"What do you mean?"

Weiss took a deep breath and looked miles away. "You don't know how lonely you can get, when your last name is Schnee. So if you want some company, what you do is you find a nice girl, who maybe has a bit of a problem making her rent this month. And you chat her up, over coffee maybe, and then you ask her out to dinner. But we Schnees don't just eat at the local noodle bar. We have friends who own very _very_ expensive restaurants. Mortals don't even get to go in there, and the demigods get put on a week-long waiting list. But for Weiss _Schnee_ , there's always a table. All it takes is a phone call, and Weiss Schnee plus one are set for the evening. But you can't walk in there in your cheap off-the-rack blouse and worn trousers. So you take this girl dress shopping, and you watch her try on _all_ the dresses, and she looks gorgeous in all of them, but you pick the most expensive one. You pay for it on the company credit card. You make sure the girl gets the receipt, and you tip the staff very well, because they know just as well as you do that they are going to see that dress back the next morning. And then you take this princess-for-a-night to the restaurant, and you let her pick whatever she wants off the menu, and you show her how to eat oysters and how to crack open a lobster."

Yang said nothing, but looked at Weiss with large eyes.

"Finally, you take her to one of the nice rooms in one of the best hotels in town, and then... you get to take off the dress. And that's what you do for company if you are filthy rich. The girl gets to stay in her apartment, and you get a pair of warm arms for a night with no strings attached. It's a fair deal. But doing it more than once with the same girl turns it into business."

"Weiss..." Yang shook her head slowly. "Why don't you just find a nice _rich_ boy, uh, girl? Why... why _pay_ for it? It's humiliating for _both_ of you."

"Because in my family, in the Company, each and every person is a _fortress_. I'm no exception. Money is meaningless. _Everybody_ has money. The currency is _power_. When you see a group of SDC board members, you can almost see the web of favours, alliances, deals. And sex. Sex is _currency_. If I can make some boy get used to having me in his bed, then I can pressure him by taking that away. Attraction is a weakness. Love is... a disaster. There is really no such thing as a friend in our circles. In all my family, all the Company, I am closest to Winter. I know what you think of her, Yang, but she'll give me advice. She'll encourage me. She'll give me a good kick up the butt if I need it. She helped me escape, gave me a lift in her cruiser, and she won't ask for anything in return. But even she will expect me to be her ally in years to come, to help her like she helped me. And if the Gods give me life, I will."

"And I'll be there for you, Weiss. You've given me so much." Yang looked at her hand.

"Please, Yang." Weiss tapped Yang's shoulder. "That is _nothing_ like that. I went to Beacon because I was sick to my teeth of the life I had. Winter went into the Army. I went to be a Huntress. Father almost had a heart attack. And the first person I meet is some stupid little girl, and the first thing she does is knock over my things, and the _second_ thing she does is breathe fire on me. And then I meet another girl, and she has no respect for me or my family at all. And I loathe the two of them, and then what happens? I run into Craterface on my first mission and I'm stuck with her. And I get into a team with that ruffian of a sword fighter girl and some blonde bombshell, and... they like me! They like _me_ , not my money, not my reputation, not my family. _Me!_ They want to make friends with me, even though I'm... I'm..."

"A complete bitch," said Yang. "A spoilt brat. A total..."

"Yes, thank you." Weiss stroked Yang's hair. "And we all go to hell and back together, and then we find that hell is a walk in the park compared to what's next. And our group just falls apart, and I get reeled in and I can look forward to a purgatory of life in Schnee Dust Company, all on my own, lonely among a thousand people. I'd rather _die_ than allow that. Do you want to know what my happiest moment was the last few weeks?"

"My dad's cooking? That's pretty good."

"Good, but not by a long shot. When you came riding up to the motel, and your dad went out to find you, I could see you two. You were holding each other, and I could see your face." Weiss swallowed. "I would have given you my _own_ arm, just to see that. I love you, Yang, and it's got nothing to do with getting anything back from you. _Or_ wanting to get into your underwear."

Yang said nothing. She just wrapped her arms round Weiss and squeezed the air out of her. Weiss hugged Yang back. She blinked away tears, wiped her eyes with her hand. Her face changed back to its usual expression of, well, Weiss.

"Mind you. If you _were_ offering, I wouldn't say no. I'm not _stupid_."

"Hey." Yang raised her metal hand and wiggled her fingers. "With all the commotion, I haven't tried out this oscillation thing yet. Too busy, too many people around, too dangerous on a motorcycle. Wanna be the first?"

Weiss stared at Yang for few long moments. Then, a grin stole over her face.

"Yeah." 

 

Taiyang looked at his watch, saw it was time to wake up Yang, and crawled into the tunnel. In the dim light of the moon, he saw his daughter in bed, awake already, looking down on Weiss' sleeping face. Yang looked up at him, and her smile was the most wonderful thing he had seen in a long time.

"Do I have to make your bed at home large enough for three now?"

Yang shook her head. "Silly girl was trying to sleep in a paper bag. But maybe we can tidy up the spare room. You wouldn't believe what her family is like."

"There's very little about human beings I wouldn't believe," said Taiyang. "Hey sweetheart, if you don't want to wake her up, I can take the next shift for you."

Yang pulled a face. She picked up Weiss' arm by the wrist and dropped it. Weiss gave a tiny grunt, and slept on.

"When she's asleep, she _sleeps_. Blake and I once picked her up and put her in bed with Ruby, and then we put her back. She never woke up. I may still have the pictures somewhere."

"With friends like you," said Taiyang. "Who needs enemies?"

Yang carefully got out of bed and pulled the blanket over Weiss. She pulled on her clothes.

"Dad? If you don't feel like going to sleep just yet, there is something." 

* * *

 

Weiss woke up with a sneeze. Yang was gone. Of course, she'd be on guard. She looked over at the other sleeping bag. Hmm. Taiyang was gone as well. Gone hunting? That would go against standard operating procedure. You don't go off on your own. Anything can happen.

There was a noise outside their shelter, and Weiss looked up. The noise was unmistakable. Fighting! That was Yang's voice, crying out in pain! Weiss jumped out of bed, grabbed her sword and got out as fast as she could. She looked, and what she saw made her heart stop.

Taiyang, using the full strength of his semblance, was beating Yang.

He was punching her in the stomach, throwing her back yard after yard, following her as she stumbled back, until she was near the mountainside. Taiyang stepped forward, and with a massive roundhouse kick smashed Yang into the mountain.

Weiss shook. Yang wasn't fighting back. Whenever she got knocked down, she stumbled to her feet, teeth bare, eyes red, hair aflame, and just... waited.

Weiss sprang forward, sword out, and put a glowing white glyph underneath Taiyang's feet. At a gesture of her hand, Taiyang was thrown up high into the air, until Weiss put another glyph above him, bouncing Taiyang down onto the ground. Weiss closed her fist, and the lower glyph changed colour to black. Taiyang slammed down on it, and stayed down, unable to move. Weiss stepped forward and put the point of her sword on Taiyang's throat.

" _What is the meaning of THIS?_ "

Taiyang strained against the force of the glyph. "It's not what it looks like. I can explain."

"What it looks like to _me_ is you are beating up my friend. I can't wait to hear why."

A metal hand closed on her wrist, and pulled away the sword. Weiss looked into Yang's crimson eyes.

"Because I asked him to." Yang took a breath, blew out, and her eyes changed back to their normal violet.

Weiss dispelled her glyph and gaped at Yang while her father got to his feet.

"I've got to know which of my arms is stronger," said Yang.

Weiss pointed. "That one is made of _metal_."

"So was that Paladin we broke. Remember? The one with Torchwick in. I don't punch metal with my flesh and bones, Weiss." Yang held her fist in front of Weiss and showed her. "Part of my semblance is that it hardens the aura around my fist, and _that_ is what I punch with. Now with my left arm, I know that my aura ends here." Yang pointed at her knuckles. "But with my _right_ arm, I don't know yet if it ends here..." Yang pointed at the place where her skin ended and metal began. "Or there."

Weiss slowly nodded.

"And to really test it out, I need to have my energy topped up. That's what Dad was doing." She bent over to Weiss. "It _wasn't_ a spanking. Dad's the kind who just looks sad and disappointed. And now, I have to start all over again." 

 

Weiss sat on a rock and watched Yang's dad kick and punch her. Now that she knew what was going on, she could see that Taiyang was taking care not to hit her harder than she could take, which still was like an express train. Was he going full out on her? Hard to tell. Finally, after ten minutes or so of violence, Yang blocked Taiyang's kick, and Taiyang stepped back. Yang breathed in through bare teeth and slammed her fists together. Her aura flared up as she turned round, facing the cliff. Yang _screamed_ , and her metal fist shot out and hit the side of the mountain. There was a loud crack, and great tears appeared in the cliff face. There was a rumbling, and boulders started to rain down on Yang. With hard punches, left and right, the falling rocks burst into smaller pieces. Taiyang watched her for a moment, then sat down next to Weiss, smiling.

"Look at her." Taiyang laughed. "Just look at her. That's my daughter!"

Weiss looked at her feet.

"Sorry," she said.

Taiyang put his arm round Weiss' shoulders, pulled her closer, and kissed the top of her head.

"Yang couldn't wish for a better friend than you." He looked where Yang was tossing boulders as big as her head up in the air and smashing them to gravel. "Yang is not the first Huntress to lose a limb. I could have trained her up to use a sword. There's weapons you can use even with the short piece of arm she has left. Ball and chain. Rifles. She'd have been every bit as strong a figher as she ever was. But I couldn't make her _want_ that. She's always wanted to use her fists like her daddy." Taiyang leaned back on his elbows, watching Yang. "You've given her back her fists."

"She looks so happy," said Weiss. "Absolutely worth it."

"There's going to be fall-backs. Not everybody is going to gush over that arm like Lily did. Some day, someone important is not going to like it. Call her a freak and make off with her boyfriend. She's going to miss touching people with both her hands. She'll knock it into someone and hurt them. At some point it's going to break and need repairs. And don't get me started on the mountain of trouble heading her way over Blake Belladonna. But for now..."

Yang walked up, breathing hard, a big, big grin on her face. She raised her iron fist and tapped the knuckles with her finger.

" _Man_ it feels good just to let rip! I'm going to kick _so_ much butt!"

"Are we done now?" Taiyang got up and pulled Weiss to her feet. "Mountain Glenn isn't getting any closer." 

* * *

 

Yang, Weiss, and Taiyang were lying down on a hillside, looking down on the ruins of Mountain Glenn. Once a thriving city, it had been ravaged by the invading Creatures of Grimm. For a little time, the people of Mountain Glenn had hidden underground. But skulking underground, ever fearful, is no way to lead a life. The town had been evacuated, abandoned to the wandering Grimm, until the White Fang had adopted it as their hideout. There were hardly any Grimm left here now. They had all joined the pilgrimage to the frozen dragon atop Beacon Tower. So the White Fang had moved back in, drawing their plans against the people of Vale. But even though they were hidden underground, there were sure to be sentries watching the approach of anyone wanting to take a piece out of them.

"Hey, Weiss," said Yang. "Remember that field trip? With Prof Oobleck?"

" _Doctor_ Oobleck," said Weiss, peering through a pair of binoculars. "Of course."

Yang put her chin in her hands. "I told him I wanted to be a Huntress for the adventure. I suppose I got what I wanted."

"Duty," said Weiss. "That's what I told him. Uphold the proud name of Schnee, by being the best at what I could do. Ye gods, I was full of it."

"I just wanted to impress girls," said Taiyang.

" _Dad_!"

"Worked, too. You and Ruby are living proof, my darling."

"Ruby was an accident," said Yang.

" _You_ should keep really quiet about accidents."

Weiss looked up from her binoculars, left at Yang, right at Taiyang. "Is this what normal families are like?"

"We're gonna start fighting in two minutes," said Yang.

"Just do it quietly," said Weiss.

Taiyang stared miles away. "Yang gave us the fright of our lives. Just turned legal age. And then she told me that she was 'late'. So I'm being a Good Parent, being all supportive, not beating the stuffing out of the boy, and I'm gently preparing little Ruby that there may be a new arrival in the family, we're practically painting the spare room, and then my precious little flower just walks in with a face like thunder and tells us it's a false alarm."

"The things I'm learning here," said Weiss, happy in the knowledge that this was one problem she was in no danger of running into.

"Grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and nearly threw her into the Doctor's office to have one of these things fitted. _Not_ having that again."

Yang beamed at Taiyang. "Thanks, Dad. Love you, Dad."

"Can't see anything moving," said Weiss. "Not even a creep."

"Can we go now?" said Yang. "Freezing my nuts off here."

"Language darling," said Taiyang, standing up. "I can't stand anatomical incorrectness." 

* * *

 

Mountain Glenn's streets had that eerie feeling that all abandoned places have. Nature was reclaiming the buildings, vines growing over them. The floors inside were covered with junk dropped by looters. Glass cracked underfoot. Things made of metal had rusted. Anything else was broken, covered with dust and sand. The debris of lives destroyed by the ever present Grimm, or lives abandoned and continued somewhere else. They stole from building to building, home to shop to office looking in every direction at the same time.

Yang slowly opened the door to a bedroom, found it empty. "Clear. Think they're in the same place as before?" 

"Could be," said Weiss. "There's a station entrance there. Let's go look." 

 

The elevator was out of order as usual, so they made their way down the stairs. The emergency Everlights were still on after all these years. Too cheap to loot, and a pain to get out of their sockets, they spread just enough light to make the shadows deep. The debris on the floor made it impossible to walk quietly. Taiyang took point, having the best night vision. Weiss had her sword out. Yang had her Ember Celica out, ready for action. Taiyang had no weapons.

They came out of the stairwell, and walked onto a train platform. Dark tunnels invited them to explore. The window to the station master's office was smashed, sharp shards sticking out. The door was ajar. Taiyang gave Weiss and Yang a look and they took up positions next to the door. Taiyang pushed it open.

There was a shout and a man came leaping out, a sword slashing down. Taiyang dodged the sword, then sprang forward and grabbed the man's arm. There was a cracking sound and the sword clattered to the ground. Taiyang pulled the man up against him, grabbed his head in his hands, pulled and twisted. He didn't even have the time to cry out.

More White Fang came pouring out of the door, most with curved blades, one with a gun. Yang aimed for the gunman, fired everything she had at him. He went down. Weiss' rapier glowed red and slashed out like a whip. One of the White Fang fighters stumbled back, dropped his sword, fell down. She looked round. Taiyang's arms were glowing with a faint blue light. His speed and strength were frightening. Yang was fighting a White Fang woman with a fierce red look in her eyes. Yang punched her in the face while firing, and she fell to the ground, broken.

The last White Fang fighter, a woman with a sword she had probably only held for the first time a few weeks ago, saw what had happened to her friends, and fled.

Taiyang shouted, "Don't let her get away!"

Weiss sprinted after her, preparing one of her glyphs. The White Fang woman ran into the tunnel, with Weiss close behind. Weiss raised her hand and a blue solid glyph appeared in front of the woman. She ran into it face first and fell to the ground. She got to her feet, raised her sword. Her face was half hidden behind her mask, but her mouth was open and she was gasping for breath. Weiss could almost smell the fear on her. She screamed, ran at Weiss madly swinging her sword. Weiss parried, thrust. The point of Weiss' rapier entered the White Fang woman's body, off to the side. With a hard thrust, Weiss pushed her rapier all the way through. She twisted the blade, ripped it out, stabbed her again to make it quick. The woman looked at the sword, tried to scream, but couldn't. Weiss pulled out her rapier and watched the White Fang woman die.

Weiss whipped her rapier round to shake the blood off, and turned round. There was an almost familiar voice behind her.

"You shouldn't have killed her."

Weiss whirled round, weapon out. From the shadows stepped Blake Belladonna. Weiss stared with her eyes wide open. Of all the things she could have noticed, she saw Blake's ears. She wasn't wearing the bow on her head anymore.

"You should have wounded her. Stabbed her in the stomach. Then she can crawl back to base and if she gets infected, her friends can watch her die."

Blake turned the body over, pulled off the mask. The eyes were wide open with fear.

"Those masks do make it easier, don't they? Make them not look like people."

As Weiss looked on, Blake drew her sword, took the White Fang woman's right hand, pulled up her arm. With a hiss, the blade came round and cut off the arm just above the elbow. Weiss shuddered at how _practiced_ the move looked.

"What the hell is _that_ good for?"

"That's how Adam knows it's me," said Blake. She pulled a plastic bag from her backpack and put the arm in. She grinned at Weiss. "Sorry for stealing your credit."

"Blake..."

"Are you here for the White Fang?"

"We're here for you."

"Who's 'we'?"

"Come look." 

 

Blake followed Weiss back to the station master's office. Yang was inside, searching for information. Taiyang was searching the bodies. He looked up at Weiss' footsteps.

"Did you get... oh. Uhh... Hello Miss Belladonna."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Taiyang. Pleased to meet you so soon. We were looking forward to a long search."

"Taiyang... You are Yang's father."

"Yes."

"And you're not home with her." Blake bowed her head. "She's dead, then. I feared as much."

"Dead? She's not dead! What makes you think she's dead?"

With impeccable timing, Yang came walking out of the door. She saw Blake. Blake saw her. Neither of them moved or spoke. Blake started to shake, tried to say Yang's name and couldn't.

"Blake..." Yang's voice was hardly above a whisper, hardly above a prayer.

Blake lowered herself as if to spring away. She looked at Yang again, over her shoulder, back at Yang.

"I'm so... sorry."

"Blake. Please don't run. _Please_ don't run. Don't worry about my arm. Look." Yang held her hand up. "Weiss got me a new one." She opened her arms, took half a step forward. "It does hugs. _Please_ Blake."

Blake closed her eyes. Her lips moved, but no sound came. She leaned forward. Yang took another careful step forward. Blake was between her arms, but Yang was afraid Blake would disappear in a puff of smoke if she touched her. Please...

Blake raised her hands a tiny amount. Her eyes were still closed.

"Yang," she whispered.

Yang's hands, old and new, touched Blake's shoulders, and then she pulled her close so fast she almost knocked the wind out of her.

"I'm so happy you're alive! I've been so _scared_ for you!"

Blake held on to Yang as though she would never let go. Then, suddenly, she looked up into Yang's eyes.

"You need to go. He'll kill you if he finds you. You need to get out of here."

"No, _we_ need to get out of here."

"I'm not done yet. There's still White Fang."

Weiss stepped up. "The White Fang will keep. Ruby's in trouble. We need to get to Haven."

"Ruby...?"

"Yes," said Weiss. "Little girl, dark hair, big scythe. Talent for being in the wrong place."

"Haven? What's she doing in Haven?"

"Good question. She's going toe to toe with the _real_ enemies. Would you like to have a go at the people who _hired_ the White Fang? We need to find Ruby and keep her from doing stupid things. Do you know a good way out?"

Blake ran her hand over Yang's shoulder, then let go of her.

"I know _every_ way in or out." 


	5. Descend From Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss, Blake, Yang and Taiyang make their way back to Vale through the tunnel they know so well. Everybody wants to know what Blake has been doing all these months. Blake tells them. Now everybody wants _not_ to know what Blake has been doing all these months.

"We're taking the tunnel," said Blake. "It's more fun."

"Define 'fun', please," said Weiss.

"Funny little Faunus pretending to be big scary Grimm," said Blake.

"Miss Belladonna," said Taiyang, "I have checked my scroll, and today is _not_ a good day to die."

"Don't worry," said Blake. "They only put their newbies in the tunnel. The fighting elite is somewhere else looking for me."

"What," said Yang. "The entire might of the White Fang against one little kitty cat?"

"Couldn't take them on all at the same time. But Adam was right. I'm really good at running away, and I have a whole city to hide in." Blake scowled. "What he didn't count on is that I'm also really good at hitting. Nothing takes the fun out of being in the big scary White Fang like watching your friends die slowly of infected wounds."

"They have medics, don't they?" said Weiss.

"Medical staff is a bit short handed," said Blake. "I've given them a lot of work. Kill them where they are, and all they have to do is drop them in a hole. Leave them just alive enough, and they have to take them back to base, feed and water them for a few days and _then_ they die. Stab them in the spine and they'll be useless even if they do survive. Live and learn."

"You've been whittling away at them for all this time?" Weiss shook her head. "You're lucky they didn't catch you."

"Luck is for gamblers." 

* * *

 

Adam Taurus did not have long to celebrate his victory. His army was back at their secret hideout. The fight had gone well. Vale lay in chaos. Soon, the warriors of the White Fang would strike again. Tonight would see revels in their stronghold at Mountain Glenn. He had even seen his long lost love again, and been able to start his revenge on her for her betrayal of him. He would destroy all the humans she had taken up with. That blonde fighter had been a good start. He had watched Blake slink away into the darkness carrying the wreck of her. He would save killing Blake to the very last. When her mind and spirit were broken, he would break her body, inch by inch. Such was the punishment for treason. He walked into his private chambers.

"Hello Adam."

The silhouette in the dark room was unmistakable. It was her.

"My love. Are you ready to die already? Is that why you're here?"

"I'm not ready to die. I'm ready to kill."

"You tried before, my love. How _is_ your friend?"

"Dead," said Blake. "She is dead. Beacon is gone. My friends are gone. You have destroyed everything I loved."

"Then I will take you, and your suffering will serve as an example for others who betray the White Fang."

"No. It is _my_ turn. I will destroy that which _you_ love. When your precious White Fang is just you and a handfull of weaklings afraid to leave, _then_ you may have me. Not before."

"I will take a month killing you. And I will start _now_!"

Adam leapt forward, slashing out with his red blade. He never missed. But the figure dissolved into Dust. There was a laugh, this time from behind him. Blake was standing in the door.

"Oh Adam. Are you ever _not_ going to fall for that?"

Adam raised his weapon and fired. Blake's shadow blew up in a million particles and blew away on the breeze. Blake laughed again, from... somewhere.

"I guess not. I'll see you again soon, Adam." 

* * *

 

"Wait. Don't move. Be quiet. These are the heavy ones."

Weiss watched Blake. She was on one knee, nearly invisible in her dark grey shirt and trousers. She was poised like a spring, ready to pounce, get in a hit or two, then disappear into the dark. Blake really was in her element here, and Weiss was painfully aware of her bright white hair.

The group of White Fang soldiers marched by, without stopping. Blake rose to her feet and they moved on.

"If this was just me, I'd have hit them," said Blake. "But I can't trust you lumps to get out of the way quick. Better luck next time."

"We're not here to kill soldiers," said Weiss.

"Me neither," said Blake. "Like I said, killing them is over too soon. I want them to piss themselves when Adam sends them out." Blake grinned in the dark. "Some of them wanted to leave. Adam caught them. And then he executed them himself. I have to hand it to him. What he does to them is worse than what I do. For now." 

* * *

 

"Three of them. Same thing as the last time."

"Arms..."

"Cut off, and missing. She's taking trophies."

"Find her. Bring her to me. Alive." 

* * *

 

The tunnel to Vale was at the other side of the complex. They often had to hide in the shadows. Blake knew each and every hollow, led them unwaveringly, until she stopped, pointed.

"Sentries. Two hundred yards ahead. They're a kind of monkey Faunus, and they are about the only people with better night vision than I have. Can't sneak past them without them seeing us."

"Well, that's nice," said Weiss. "So how do we get past?"

"Kill them," said Blake. "Hang on. I always save a couple of these for when I want to go back into town."

Blake took off her pack and rummaged inside. Weiss noticed the hand sticking out, and quickly moved herself between Yang and Blake.

"Ah." Blake held up two metal cylinders with ring pulls. "Flashbangs. Who here has the best throwing arm?"

"That'd be me," said Taiyang.

Blake handed Taiyang one of the grenades. "Four second fuse. Throw it then stick your fingers in your ears and close your eyes. I'm not kidding. They'll be deaf and blind for, well," Blake smiled. "The rest of their lives, really."

Weiss watched Blake pull out two large balls of cotton and stuff them in her cat ears. The routine of it was, to say the least, mildly disturbing. It was almost like she belonged here, in the blood-soaked darkness of the White Fang base. She glanced at Yang, who shrugged.

"Eyes and ears everybody," said Taiyang. 

 

The flashbang exploded with an impossibly loud bang in the tunnel, and a flash that they could see even through eyes screwed firmly shut. As they ran forward, they saw about six or seven White Fang soldiers walking around, disoriented. They fell on them, and killed them all. Yang looked round for more White Fang, then clicked her Ember Celica gauntlets back.

"This was far too easy," said Yang. "Almost feels like murder."

"I told you," said Blake. "The Elite don't show their faces out here. They know I can hit them from the shadows as easily as I can these idiots. This way at least, they don't lose their trained soldiers."

"Blake fodder," said Yang.

"Eww," said Blake. She opened her pack, kneeled next to the first of the corpses, drew her sword, annd pulled up his hand. Weiss sprang forward and grabbed her shoulder.

"Are you _mad_?" she hissed. " _Yang_ is watching."

Blake looked at Weiss strangely, then went 'Oh'. She looked over her shoulder.

"Yang?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you go and see if anyone's following us?"

"Sure," said Yang, and ran down the tunnel.

"Thanks," said Blake, raised her sword and and cut off the Faunus' arm just above the elbow. 

* * *

 

Adam Taurus woke up and found his hands were cuffed to his bed. His feet were tied. Blake Belladonna was sitting on the bed next to him. Not one of her clones this time. It was really her. Adam bared his teeth.

"Have you come to kill me in my sleep? When I can't defend myself? Another cowardly deed after all the cowardly deeds that have gone before?"

"I've learnt that from my _Sensei_ ," said Blake. "Destroy everything they love. How many have left already?"

"None," said Adam. "The White Fang does not flinch before one little girl."

Blake laughed quietly. She gently ran her fingernails down Adam's chest.

"You always liked it when I did that. You liked to feel my nails on you, knowing that those nails could tear through flesh, but knowing at the same time you could kill me with one blow if I got out of hand." Blake bent over him. "How does it feel now I'm no longer your pet? My love?"

"Were you watching when I punished the traitors who wanted to abandon their duty?"

"A classic," said Blake. "And all you need is a strong sharpened pole. Minimal equipment for maximal effect. I expect Faunus are now flocking to the White Fang."

"When we catch you, and we will, then after we have taken your ears, and your eyes, and your arms, _that_ will be your fate. We will put you in the middle of camp and our warriors will come and laugh at you and throw filth at you while you hang there, dying in pain."

Blake drew her fingernails down Adam's chest, drawing four parallel lines of blood this time. She watched as his aura sealed up the cuts.

"Your precious White Fang is breaking up. Your brave Warriors are afraid to go into the dark with me. If they stay, I will get them. If they leave, _you_ will get them." Blake breathed in deep. "Can you smell the fear? I wish I could bottle it. But then, I don't _need_ to bottle it. The White Fang is an endless source. Now sleep, my love, and dream of past glory. It's all you have."

Blake ran her hands up Adam's body, and pressed her fingers down on two specific points on his throat, until his eyes rolled back and he lost consciousness. 

 

A small Rabbit girl slowly made her way to the tunnel, with many a fearful look over her shoulder. If they caught her, they would... She tried to slow her breath and moved forward. The armless ones had started coming back alive now, bleeding, holding their own tourniquets, eyes wide open with horror. The survivors walked the camp, reminding everyone of what was out there. There were only two of the four medics left. One had been taken. One had tried to leave, and...

She closed her eyes and ran forward into the tunnel. 

 

"She's gone," said one guard.

"We can still catch her," said the other. "Come on!"

"I can't outrun a Rabbit Faunus." He looked at his comrade. "And if you think I'm handing _anyone_ over to that maniac, you've got another thing coming." He looked at the tunnel. "She's got family back in Vacuo. Frith guide you, little rabbit."

The other guard sighed. "Yeah. You're right. Nothing we could do. Come on, let's tell the sarge the good news." 

 

She ran. Running felt good. As long as she could run, she was safe. The tunnel was large, nothing like the tunnels she felt most at home in, but it was dark. Rabbit underground. Rabbit safe and sound. She ran until her ears were buzzing, then stumbled as she looked up. Her breath stuck in her throat and she started to shake all over her body. She tore off her White Fang Grimm mask and threw it away. She screamed.

"I'm _leaving_! I'm not White Fang anymore! Please let me go!"

She took a shaking breath, bowed down and ran as fast as her feet could take her. And in the darkness, amber eyes watched, and smiled.

"Good girl," said Blake. 

* * *

 

Weiss followed Blake, unable to keep her eyes off her bulging backpack. What in the world Blake did with those... things, she couldn't begin to imagine. Oh damn. She could. Surely not? She was walking in front of her, almost invisible in the deep shadows of the train tunnel where they had been on a train loaded with explosive to blow holes in the roof of the tunnel and let the Grimm in. They had come bursting out of the abandoned train station in Vale, and they had fought together with all their friends to destroy the Grimm. They had come out feeling they could take on the whole world. They had been... disappointed.

Blake looked back at them. "Anyone want to take a break? They've never followed me this far before. They knew I'd be back." She chuckled. "I'm almost hoping they will this time. There's something I really want them to see."

"This is gonna be good," said Yang. "I'm fine to go on. It's getting dark outside, so let's keep going for another hour or two, then make camp."

"Sounds like a plan," said Taiyang.

They kept moving for another thirty minutes or so, until Weiss looked up.

"What's that noise?"

"Flies," said Blake.

Yang frowned. "Flies?"

"You get them," said Blake. "Rotten flesh and all that."

"Rotten flesh..."

They stopped. There was a smell in the air unlike anything they had ever encountered before. The air was thick with the buzzing of flies. Blake had been busy. There were thick ropes running from one end of the tunnel to the other. Suspended from these ropes, each on their own bits of string, were... arms. Weiss started to count them, and stopped. Rows upon rows. Dozens. Maybe a hundred, some of them swinging gently, others turning round.

"This'll only take a minute," said Blake, turning over her backpack. "Try to breathe slowly."

She produced a ball of string and tied up her latest trophies, hanging them from the large cables. Weiss half expected her to whistle while she worked.

Taiyang drew close to Yang, bent over to her and softly whispered in her ear.

"Your lady friend needs a little bit of help."

Yang blinked her eyes. "You're not... wrong," she said.

"There," said Blake. "All done. Next time the White Fang decide to come and invade Vale through here, they're going to stop and think a bit, maybe."

"Hey Blake," said Yang. She held up her hand. "Got anything in my size?"

Blake started to laugh, but then, the laughter drained from her face as she looked at Yang's dull metal arm. Her lips trembled, and then she started to shake so hard that she had to sit down on the ground, with her arms over her head.

" _Blake_?" Yang sprang forward.

"Oh no. Oh no. Oh no..."

"Blake? What's wrong?"

Blake looked up at Yang, grabbed her metal arm. Her eyes filled with tears and she buried her face in her legs.

"What have I done?"

"Oh _excellent_ ," said Weiss. "What a _perfect_ time for your conscience to kick in. If you're lucky, you can even atone by letting the White Fang tear you to little bits."

Weiss fell to her knees in front of Blake and took her face between her hands.

"Hey Blake? Snap out of it. You can have an emotional crisis when we're safe in Vale, not before."

"I don't want to go to Vale. I... I can't... can't live in among the, the people. I'm a _monster_. I'll hurt them."

"Do you remember we always say that life isn't fair?"

"Yes?"

"Well, it isn't. Which means you get to live with normal people regardless. I promise you. If you look like you're going to hurt anyone, I will stop you."

"I've done... terrible things."

"So have I. This morning, I killed some stupid woman. Stabbed her right through the heart and watched her die. Yang has shot two people in the face and beat another one to death. Taiyang has... _broken_ at least four White Fang Faunus today. _Nobody_ here is a nice person anymore. And still, Yang gives me all the hugs I want, and still, I'll get you cups of tea whenever you need them."

"But don't you _see_?" Blake turned her eyes away from the hanging horror.

"You've had more time. Tell me. What horrible things have you done that _we_ haven't?" 

* * *

 

The medic opened his eyes. He was on his knees, tied to a post, one rope round his neck, one round his waist, a third round his feet. His arms were not bound, but the knots in the rope were too tight to undo. Someone behind him put a piece of rope round his bicep and tied it up tight. He looked round, into the amber eyes of... her. The meaning of her name, a flower called Deadly Nightshade, had stopped being funny a long time ago.

"Blake Belladonna."

The woman said nothing. She found a long thin piece of metal and put it underneath the rope as a lever. She started to turn it, tightening the rope round his arm. in a flash of clarity, the medic saw what this woman intended to do. He took a breath to shout, but she pulled the rope round his neck tight, choking him.

"It'll take your friends a few minutes to get here when you start screaming. Do you know what I can do to you in that time?"

She let go of the rope round his neck and continued tightening the rope round his arm.

"Please... _Please_! I'm a doctor. I'm not a fighter."

"You're White Fang," said the woman.

"Please listen. I can help you. I am not your enemy. I treat every patient. Humans, even."

The woman pointed at her ears. "I'm not human. And I'm fine, thank you for asking. I got you a lot of work recently, didn't I? Is this tight enough? Wouldn't want you to bleed out."

"Please, Miss Belladonna..."

"Look. Is this tight enough? It's a simple question. Oh well. We'll find out."

She secured the lever with a few rounds of duct tape, then tied another rope round his other arm.

"No... _No_! _Please!_ I beg of you! Please don't do this to a fellow Faunus! I can help you! Please have mercy!"

The woman started winding up the other rope.

"Sorry. I'm all out of mercy. And really. If you want to keep me from hurting you, all you have to do is leave."

"I... I treated some who tried."

"Yes you did, didn't you?" The woman looked away, thinking. "Were they technically still in the White Fang when you did that? Oh well, never mind." She secured the other lever like the first.

The medic bared his teeth. "My friends are closer than you think. If I call out, they'll..."

"I expect they're a bit busy now. They're putting out a little fire in the infirmary. I'll tell you, that cleaning alcohol really burns very well. Pretty blue flames." She smiled. "But look what I've saved you!"

She held up a small bottle and a syringe. She filled it up, tapped it to get rid of the air. Holding the syringe between her teeth, she pulled open the medic's shirt. She cleaned his chest with an alcohol-soaked wipe, stuck the needle in his chest, pressed down the plunger and dropped the syringe on the floor.

"Right. Messages for your friends. Tell everybody that I do this only to people _in_ the White Fang, not out of it. And if you still have any colleagues, tell them they're next. Got that? Right. If you want to scratch anything, now is the time."

" _No!_ Please! Please don't do this! I'll leave. I'll do anything you want. Please, I beg you!"

The woman drew her sword. The medic's breath came in shivering gasps.

"Hold still. The cut'll be cleaner. Oh." She lowered her weapon. "Now that I think about it, there _is_ something you can do."

" _Anything!_ Anything you want, just don't do this."

The woman raised her sword, smiled.

"Scream."

The sword came down. She calmly took a step to the side, struck again. She bent down, picked up the arms, and disappeared into the shadows. 

* * *

 

Taiyang was walking in front, with Weiss and Blake behind him and Yang taking up the rear. Taiyang pointed at a dark place off to the side.

"That looks like a good place to rest. Coffee anyone?"

"Yes please," said Weiss.

They sat down in the shadows, Blake between Weiss and Yang. Her face looked pale under the grime of at least a week in the darkness. Taiyang kneeled in front of her and held a mug of steaming coffee in her face.

"No thanks. Don't drink coffee."

"I don't blame you. In Vale, I stick to water. But this is the good stuff. A friend of mine imports the beans and roasts them himself. Try it." He pushed the mug into her hand.

Blake took a small sip. "Thanks."

Yang and Taiyang exchanged glances. They all had coffee, watching Blake anxiously.

"Let's try to get some sleep," said Taiyang. "I don't think the White Fang will follow us all the way here. If that Taurus guy lets them out this far, they may never return. I'll take first watch."

"Second," said Yang.

"Third," said Blake, on automatic.

"Oh no you don't," said Weiss. "You are going to get some sleep. We'll watch over you."

Blake looked up at her, but didn't seem to feel like arguing with Weiss Schnee right now.

"Okay."

Yang reached for her backpack and pulled out her sleeping bag. She gently pulled Blake into her lap and pulled the sleeping bag over them both.

"I'm in charge of body heat. Nothing but happy customers so far."

Yang wrapped her arms round Blake and gently ran her fingers through her hair. Blake looked up, and Yang smiled at her.

"I'm so happy you're okay," said Yang. She found her woolly jumper and put it in the crook of her metal arm for Blake's head to rest on.

Blake gave Yang a wavering smile back. "Me too," she said, and looked up at Yang until her eyes closed. 

 

"She's worse off than I am," said Yang.

"She'll push through it," said Weiss. "But she'll take some convincing."

"That she isn't a monster?" Yang looked at Blake's face, cheek resting against her breast. "You may not have the facts on your side there."

"No. That being a monster isn't a bad thing."

Yang looked up. "Huh?"

"Blake has done more on her own to break the White Fang than the whole of the Atlas military. She should be proud."

"Even when the way she did it was..." Yang trailed off.

"It's the job. We have to do the horrible things so that the civilians won't have to." Weiss looked into the darkness. "And the more terrible we are, the better we are at that job. We are the guardians of other people's innocence. People are going to hate us for what we do. Cross the road when we pass."

"Even if we do it for their own good?"

Taiyang pointed at Weiss' coffee mug. She handed it to him and he refilled it. "If they'd only see us kill Grimm, we'd be fine. But we're not just up against Grimm. We're up against people. Soldiers. Pretty girls on the wrong side. Faunus. Some of them aren't even evil, if evil means anything. They just want different things from the world than we do."

Blake made whimpering noises and stirred in her sleep. Yang stroked her hair.

"Ssh. It's alright. We're here. You're safe."

Blake sighed, and settled down.

"She'll be fine," said Yang. 

* * *

 

They came out of the tunnel through a hole in the roof, a good hour's march away from Vale. Weiss pulled on her dark cloak and pulled up her hood.

"Please remember," said Yang, "that the name of Schnee must _not_ be mentioned. She is Miss Bianca Nevada, International Woman of Mystery."

"Ravisher of many," said Weiss, with a smirk.

They walked into town. No Schnee Dust Company agents pounced on them, so they made their way to the Hunter's Arms.

Yang found an empty booth and stood up as the others sat down. "One tea, three coffee?"

"Four CFVY, I think you'll find."

Yang turned her head round. Standing next to her was Coco Adel. She bent over to air-kiss Yang, but Yang grabbed her by her shoulders and gave her a bear hug.

" _Wlk_ ," said Coco.

Yang looked into the next booth over and waved at the rest of Team CFVY.

"Hi you guys! Look what we brought you! It's a Cat Faunus!"

" _Blake_!" Velvet moved as if by teleportation, and put her hands on Blake's face, looking into her eyes. "It's so good to see you! Where have you been?"

Blake forced a smile. "Dark places."

"Right," said Yang. "That'll be _seven_ coffees and one tea then? Come on, Blake. Gonna need another pair of hands. Got any?"

"H-hundreds," said Blake, and followed Yang to the bar.

Coco's smile disappeared as she turned her dark glasses to Weiss.

"The hell is up with her?"

"She's spent all winter playing hide and seek with the White Fang in Mountain Glenn," said Weiss. "But they were more scared of her than she was of them."

"Whoa," said Coco. "That'll mess you up."

"I know just what she needs," said Velvet, and disappeared out of the door.

"Well, it's a good thing _someone_ does," said Weiss. 

 

They all bundled into the Team CFVY booth, almost sitting on top of each other. Yang plonked herself into Yatsuhashi's lap. Yatsuhashi looked dead straight ahead with a face like a stone mask. Yang grinned broadly at him and ran a finger over his cheek.

"It's okay big guy, you can look. That's why I wear these tops. No touching though. That's Lie Ren Only Territory."

Weiss looked up at the ceiling and smiled.

There was a rush of air, and like a spirit from a fairytale, Sun Wukong the Monkey Faunus appeared by their table.

"Velvet said Blake was back. Is she?"

Blake waved, securely stowed between Weiss and Fox. Sun looked her over, breathlessly.

"Hey Blake."

"Hey Sun."

Weiss sneered and elbowed Blake in the side.

"Get up and hug the monkey."

Blake climbed over Fox' and Taiyang's knees. She stood in front of Sun.

"Hey," said Blake.

"Hey," said Sun.

They stood for a long moment, the air between them bristling with awkwardness. Just as Yang raised her hand to push Blake, Sun, in the spirit of 'Now Or Never', grabbed her, looked into her eyes, took a deep breath and kissed her. Cheers went up round the table. Velvet came walking in.

"Did I miss the good bit? _Frith_ , I thought that I could outrun any Monkey Faunus, but I knock on his door, say three words to him, and he's a dot on the horizon."

"Hey Monkeyboy," said Yang. "We're moving on tomorrow, but we're having some trouble finding a place to stay for the night. Can Blake crash at your place?"

Sun looked from Blake to Yang, from Yang back to Blake.

Blake said nothing. Her face was covered in dirt. Her hair was a mess. Her clothes had some disturbing stains on them, and she'd been wearing them for entirely too long. She tried a smile.

"Sure," said Sun. "Not a problem."

"Subtle, Bombshell," said Weiss. "Really subtle."

"You know? That's what people say all the time. That Yang, they say, is really, _really_ subtle."

"Um," said Sun. "Do you want to come to my place now? Maybe, uh, use the facilities?"

"I'd love to," said Blake. 

 

As it turned out, the Hunter's Arms had a few guest rooms. Taiyang stepped in and pointed.

"Well, well. There's _four_ beds here. Would anyone like to go and get Blake?"

"Nope," said Yang. "She's with her fellow Faunus, doing Faunus things only Faunus understand."

"Anyone want to draw straws for the bathroom?" said Weiss.

"You go. You need it most," said Yang.

Weiss stuck out her tongue and disappeared. A few moments later, her voice was raised in song accompanied by clattering water. Taiyang put down his pack on one of the beds, and turned round, looking at his daughter.

"We've done it, sweetheart. Blake's here, Weiss is here, you are here. Next, Mistral."

Yang put her arms round her father and pressed her face to his chest. Taiyang gently stroked her long blonde hair. They stood like that for a few moments. Yang looked up.

"Dad?"

"Yes Sweetheart?"

Yang looked at her feet. "I don't want you to come with us to Haven."

"What? Why not?"

"I'm going to find our worst enemies. I'm going to find the boss of that hell woman Cinder, and I'm going to punch her in the face." She looked up. "I may lose another limb. I may lose a sister. _Ruby_ may lose a sister."

"Then why don't you want me there with you?"

"Because if... _if_ that would happen, then I want there to be a home to go to. I never said, but having you to take care of me, through all the whining and sulking and moping. It was the best thing that I could have had. I don't want Ruby, or me, to return to an empty house. I love you, Dad."

"Trouble may come even to Patch, Sweetheart. Who knows where it's safe and where it isn't?"

Yang smiled sadly. "Then you'll give them hell. You and Uncle Qrow and all the teachers. Do you understand?"

Taiyang pulled his daughter to him and put his chin on her head.

"Yes. I don't like it. But I understand it. Be safe. Wrap up warm. Your friends are going to need you, and not just for hitting things. They'll need your heart as much as your fists."

Weiss came out of the bathroom and looked at them for a few moments. The little Weiss-like smirk returned to her face.

"Your turn, Bombshell. Wash behind your ears." 

* * *

 

Weiss and Blake were standing side by side in front of the tavern, waiting for Blake. Taiyang had hugged and kissed them both, wished them a safe journey, then left for the ferry home.

"Ah," said Yang. "There she is."

Blake came walking up, a vague smile on her face.

"Hey Kitty Cat," said Yang. "Had a good night's sleep then?"

"Nope," said Blake. "The words I want you to meditate on today are 'prehensile tail'. Ye gods, so many things you can do."

"You can give us all the filthy details while we walk," said Yang.

Weiss looked Blake over once or twice. "How are you?"

"Compartmentalising like crazy," said Blake. "I'm good. Let's go." 

 

They set off down the road, Yang, Weiss, Blake walking next to each other.

"Hey," said Weiss. "Does any of you know any marching songs?"

"Not as such," said Blake.

"Well then," said Weiss. "One-two-three-four-five." 


End file.
